HBO’s ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 2 Review - Still Unstimulating, Still Dull

"Sisterhood above all" might be the motto of the Bene Gesserit, but none of these women in Dune: Prophecy pique your interest. We know Valya is important because she is the Mother Superior, but Emily Watson only manages to project an aura of seriousness. She behaves like an important individual, though this doesn't stop us from seeing her as just another face in an overpopulated series consisting of bland characters. The acolytes in the Sisterhood are hit with a more terrible fate. It's almost impossible to distinguish one student from another student. They have little more value than a disposable army of CGI creatures. Episode 1 highlighted some of the acolytes by talking about them as candidates, as seen through their résumés, and that's all the personality they have (maybe things could change in the future?). No wonder then we don't care about Lila's confusion about whether she should allow herself to participate in the Agony, a ritual in which, through Lila, Tula would ask Raquella about the murders. We also feel nothing when Lila goes into a coma in the end.

Dune: Prophecy is so dull that its solemnity registers as nothing more than an attempt to create a classy atmosphere. It's a shallow embellishment that provides the series with that "Prestige TV" look, which seems to be a trend nowadays. Characters in Dune: Prophecy pose in their costumes and deliver their lines with a sense of weight. However, what they say to each other feels insignificant because we are never really invested in anybody's fate. When Valya announces that she is going to Salusa Secundus, it feels as if she is informing everybody that she will have dinner in her bedroom, not at the dining table. Mark Strong, as Emperor Javicco Corrino, is always in a befuddled state as if unsure about what he needs to do here. Jodhi May, as Empress Natalya, fares better. In Episode 2, she displays an intense hunger for power when she talks to the mysterious Desmond. Yes, Desmond is bad and immune to the Voice, yet he doesn't add urgency or menace to the show. At best, he looks like a spoiled, mischievous child who has hidden his father's toothbrush and is now waiting for the chaos to erupt.

The sex scenes continue to give a jolt to the narrative. You spend your time listening to the dry warnings regarding a catastrophic threat, and then suddenly, you hear moans and see bodies in a thrusting motion. People who complain that sex scenes are dead would probably be happy to discover that shows like Dune: Prophecy still know how to titillate the audience. But these scenes just superficially, ahem, "spice" up the series. Like a B-movie that sells its cheap story through sex and violence, Dune: Prophecy, for all its grand ambitions, looks like a B-series that sells its unstimulating story through blood (or charred bodies) and sexual images.

Final Score – [3.5/10]